Symbol of Her Burden
by Shawny Wong
Summary: A collection of Naruto drabbles and ficlets. WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for current manga events. Ficlet #2: Something Special.  Why was it so difficult to find the perfect gift?  NaruHina.
1. MinaKushi: Symbol of Her Burden

Title: Symbol of Her Burden

Author: Shawny Wong

Characters: Minato x Kushina

**Warning: Spoilers up to manga chapter 499!**

* * *

All _jinchuuriki_ carried a physical manifestation of the _bijuu_ sealed within them somewhere on their body. Whether it was the dark rings around the eyes of Ichibi's host, the razor sharp, claw-like fingernails of Nibi's host, or the "tattoo" on the face of Hachibi's host, the demons _always_ left their mark. Always. No seal – not even the strongest seal in the world – could ever completely conceal one of the tailed beasts.

Kushina supposed she should consider herself lucky. At least, _her_ mark wasn't immediately obvious. She didn't have whiskers on her face, or "tattoos" on her body, or claws instead of fingernails. Though if she _had_ to choose, she would've picked a tattoo because tattoos were _cool_ and she could've made up a badass story about them. Unfortunately for her, she didn't get anything as cool as a tattoo.

What she got was red hair – and she hated it.

It was such an vivid color that it made her stand out like a red beacon in a sea of green. It was long, which constantly made her a victim of hair pulling by bullies and cowards who liked to fight dirty. And it always got in her way, getting tangled in branches and leaves whenever their class trained in the forest.

She'd tried cutting it short – to a more manageable length – but it never lasted.

The moment she got upset... it _grew_.

The moment she got _spitting mad_, it grew from shoulder length all the way down to the back of her knees and it took on a life of it's own – waving wildly behind her... exactly like the bushy red tails of the nine-tailed demon fox.

After the fifth or sixth time it "miraculously" grew back, she stopped trying.

Red hair was the symbol of her burden.

So she hated it, until the _worst_ day of her life... Her kidnappers had almost taken her across the border of Fire. If they had succeeded, she would've been dead within days – if not hours. As it was, they were less than 10 miles from the border and she had almost given up hope.

Her savior was the _last_ person she expected. (She recalled with a bit of shame how _rude_ she'd been to him during their academy days – and calling him a "girly boy" to his face – when all he'd done was try to befriend her.)

"How did you find me?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"How?" Minato smiled down at the girl in his arms. "I noticed your beautiful red hair right away."

Kushina blushed until her face was as red as her hair.

… if Minato liked it, then maybe she could learn to like it, too... maybe.

Fin.

* * *

Author's Notes:

After the surprise revelation in manga chapter 499... (I did _not_ see that coming!)... I wondered. If Kushina was the previous _jinchuuriki_ of the Kyuubi, then why doesn't she have whiskers like Naruto?

FYI, I'm currently working on a handful of Naruto drabbles. So I thought I'd start a drabble collection for them. Future Naruto drabbles and ficlets will be added as chapters to this fic.


	2. NaruHina: Something Special

Title: Something Special

Author: Shawny Wong

Characters: Naruto x Hinata

Prompt: married life

* * *

As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Konoha was prosperous – which meant that the people of Konoha tended to have extra discretionary income – which in turn, led to a thriving business community. Konoha had several shopping districts and many specialty stores with quality merchandise, including imports of silk and tea, handcrafted furniture, and fine art. With all of those options, it _should_ have been a simple task to find a gift.

But it _wasn't_.

Naruto sped through the largest shopping district in the village on a quest to find the Perfect Present.

A book? Too ordinary.

A sweater? (It _was_ getting colder...) Nah. Too practical.

A silk kimono? She already owned a dozen.

A new weapon set? Too unromantic.

Oh! New training scrolls and more exploding tags? He actually paused and almost bought them before he remembered that this gift was supposed to be for _her_ – and not for himself!

A mouth-blown glass figurine? Pretty, but too breakable.

A "decorative" centerpiece? No way. Even _he_ could tell it was butt ugly.

Why was it so difficult to find the perfect gift?

_I suck. I suck. I. Totally. Suck. I don't know why she married me. I suck so much. How could I have forgotten our first anniversary? Argh!_

On this day, last year, he'd married the most wonderful woman in the world. She did so much for him and was such an integral part of him that he couldn't imagine a life without her. He could hardly believe that an entire _year_ had already gone by. (_Wow. A whole year already?_) It felt like he'd _just_ gotten married. His life was fantastic... no... better than fantastic! He had a rewarding job, great friends, and a beautiful wife who he adored. He was so busy with missions, training his genin team, cuddling with Hinata, training on his own, training with Hinata, developing new _jutsu_, kissing Hinata, and working at the Hokage tower part-time that the months had simply flown by.

In fact, the date had completely slipped his mind until he'd run into Ino on his way home from a D-rank mission with his genin. Their conversation had gone smoothly – just two friends catching up – until...

"_So... Are you doing anything special for Hinata tonight?" Ino asked casually. _

_As a trained interrogation expert, Ino prided herself on her ability to remember the tiniest of details, no matter how insignificant; it was a skill that had saved her life more than once. As a good friend, Ino prided herself on her ability to remember all birthdays... and anniversaries._

"_Um... No?"_

"_**What do you mean 'No'?**"_

Naruto winced. His ears still hurt from the sheer volume of her scream.

Ino had promptly shoved a calendar in his face and rubbed his nose in it for good measure. Then she'd ranted about the idiocy the male species in general – and his lack of consideration in particular – before she'd _ordered_ him to go buy something nice for his wife. Immediately.

Naruto was more than happy to comply. After all, he loved his wife and _wanted_ to get her something nice, but he was running out of time.

It was already dusk by the time he arrived at the shopping district. Several shops were already closed – and the ones that _weren't_ closed were about to be. Shopkeepers were taking down signs advertising today's sales and clerks were sweeping the floors and pulling the outdoor displays back inside. Everyone seemed eager to go home.

He groaned, frustrated and depressed by the sad truth staring him in the face. He didn't have a gift for his wife. He took a deep breath and made a familiar hand sign.

"_Kage bushin no jutsu!_"

He was _not_ going to go home empty-handed.

* * *

"I'm home."

Naruto closed the door behind him and removed his sandals. He could smell something delicious cooking in the kitchen – and it made him feel even worse. Hinata stepped out of the kitchen to greet him, wearing an apron that said: _I Kiss Better Than I Cook_. Naruto grinned in spite of himself.

"Welcome home, Naruto-kun," she said with a smile.

"Here. These are for you." He offered her a colorful bouquet of assorted wild flowers. In desperation, he'd sent over a dozen shadow clones into the fields and the forest around the village to pick the prettiest flowers they could find. "Happy anniversary, Hinata-chan."

"Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise. "These are beautiful. Thank you, Naruto-kun. I didn't think you'd remember."

"I didn't," he confessed. "Ino reminded me. I'm sorry. I know it's not much, but... I forgot and... I'm really sorry."

"Oh, Naruto-kun. You don't have to be sorry. I'm not upset."

Hinata put her arms around his neck... (Naruto's arms automatically went around her waist and pulled her close to him) ... and gave him a sweet kiss.

"You're not?" he asked skeptically.

"I'm not," she said firmly.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

She gave him another kiss – one that proved she really _did_ kiss better than she cooked. And considering what an awesome cook she was... Naruto was left dazed, breathless, and with tingles all the way down to his toes.

"That's good," he murmured. "But Hinata-chan, it's our anniversary. Why didn't you say anything? We could have done more to celebrate. Something... you know... _special_."

Hinata shook her head and kissed him again.

"Silly. _This,_" she gestured around them, indicating him, her, and their cozy home with a wave of her hands, "This _is_ something special. I'm married to _you_ – and that makes _every_ day a special day."

Fin.

* * *

Author's Note:

Written for **slytherin_gypsy** (on Live Journal) because months and months ago, she requested a NaruHina drabble and provided the prompt: married life.

**slytherin_gypsy**: Sorry for taking so long. I hope you like it!

Some girls make such a big fuss over Valentine's Day and/or anniversaries. I've never understood that. When you're with your special someone, _every_ day is a day that should be celebrated.


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